Mr. William Matsuzaki

Middle and High School Japanese Language Teacher
St. Paul’s School for Boys
Brooklandville, Maryland

Mr. William Matsuzaki was raised speaking Japanese at home, but attended local schools in the Los Angeles area.  Frequently visiting families in Japan at a young age, he always had an interest in Japanese language and culture.  Not having a good command of the language growing up, Mr. Matsuzaki decided to start studying Japanese at Carleton College. Mr. Matsuzaki majored in Japanese because of the excitement that the professors exuded and the love of the language and culture he developed.

During college, he taught at a summer program called Summerbridge in Manchester, NH for three summers that changed his life.  His love for teaching began.   Since 1999, Mr. Matsuzaki has been a Japanese teacher at St. Paul’s School for Boys in Brooklandville, Maryland where he has taught fifth through eighth grade Japanese, as well as Japanese I and VII in the high school.  Additionally, he serves as the modern language chair for the elementary and middle schools.

Mr. Matsuzaki firmly believes in planning rigorous and exciting classes to spark the interests of the students.  Students participate in various activities that target the four essential skills, immerse themselves in the culture, and engage in proficiency-based activities.  Additionally, differentiated instruction is used to meet the needs of various learners.  As a former technology coordinator, he also incorporates technology in his classes to enhance student learning.  He also creates exciting opportunities for the students by inviting various visitors from Japan into his classroom, and most recently helped to coordinate the visit from the Japanese Ambassador to his school.  His high school students will be participating in the Japan Bowl this year as well.

The teacher-coach model is an important aspect of his teaching philosophy.  He coaches middle and upper school cross country, as well as middle school tennis.  This allows him to interact with his students in other venues and create more opportunities for him to connect with them.  He has also been the editor-in-chief for The Japan Times that is published annually at his school to promote the Japanese program.  Additionally, he has organized the Japan Fair and International Day at his school.

A major part of his job is being the Japanese exchange program officer.  For the past seven years, he has been leading the three-week exchange trip to Japan with Gakushuin Senior High School.  He also created the four-month study abroad program to Gakushuin to give students a deeper experience with the language and culture.  He also coordinates the lives of the two Gakushuin students who become part of the St. Paul’s community every year.  He finds host families, coordinates their academics, and invites them to his house on weekends.  Additionally, he has hosted Japanese students for a total of three years and has become the surrogate father to them by taking them to their soccer games, cooking their meals, proof-reading their essays, and mentoring them on the American educational system.  He has in fact taken them on college road trips from Baltimore to places like Chicago, Boston, New York, and Cleveland.  To him, supporting them in all aspects of their lives is an important gesture in showing them that he cares about them, especially when they are literally thousands of miles away from home.

Through his relationship with Gakushuin, he has been the Visiting Distinguished Lecturer in the summer of 2006, was an English Summer Seminar Instructor at Gakushuin Women’s College, and was a presenter at the Symposium for Global Education at Gakushuin University in August of 2008.  He has also presented at various locations on Japanese language teaching.  In 2007, he presented Getting the Most out of Your Language Lab in Maryland.  Additionally, in 2008, he presented Running a Successful Exchange Program, Marketing Boutique Languages, and Ideas on Teaching Foreign Languages.  In 2008, he and his colleague, Ms. Kimura, presented Building and Sustaining a Strong Language Program at ACTFL.

Outside of school, from 2002 through 2005, he served on the board for NCJLT where he was the treasurer.  Furthermore, in 2009, he led a group of 23 students and parents on a ten-day baseball tour, playing seven games in six cities.  He conducted the tours and also did the translations.

Lastly, Mr. Matsuzaki firmly believes in educating himself to provide the best education for his students.  In 2002, he earned a MSEd in Technology Education and in 2004, he earned a graduate certificate in Administration and Supervision from The Johns Hopkins University.  In 2012, he will be graduating with a Doctor of Education in Teacher Development and Leadership from Hopkins.

The Elgin Heinz Award will enable him to purchase iPod Touches, as well as an iPad to create opportunities for his students to practice their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills.